Nihongo to English

Send us Fan Mail Episode 28 – Iku vs. Kuru, Barcelona Croquettes & The Daruma Gets an Eye Learn Japanese and discover Japanese culture with hosts Michael Allen (CPA) and Michelle MaliZaki in Episode 28 of Nihongo to English — the bilingual podcast where somehow, you always walk away knowing more Japanese than when you started. This week, Michelle is back from a family trip to Europe — Dublin,...

Send us Fan Mail Want to learn Japanese while laughing? Welcome to Nihongo to English — the bilingual Japanese-English podcast where Japanese culture, language, and pure chaos collide. In Episode 27, hosts Michael Allen (CPA) and Michelle MaliZaki take a break from the Genki book and go full Japan travel mode. Michael is calling in live from Arizona, and Michelle is fresh off a golf tournament, Ca...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 26 of Nihongo to English , hosts Michael Allen (CPA) and Michelle MaliZaki are back with more bilingual chaos — and somehow, you're going to learn Japanese. This week, they crack open Genki page 95 and dive into ませんか (masen ka) — the surprisingly polite (and surprisingly negative) way to invite someone to do something. Won't you listen? (See what we did th...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 25 of Nihongo to English , hosts Michael Allen (CPA) and Michelle MaliZaki dive into one of the most essential — and most confusing — parts of Japanese grammar: particles. They break down を、で、に、and へ in the most un-boring way possible, with real examples, laughs, and zero judgment. Along the way, they recap Michelle's wildly successful Stationery Park festiv...

Send us Fan Mail Learn Japanese verb conjugation the fun way with Michael Allen CPA and Michelle MaliZaki! We break down ru-verbs, u-verbs, and irregular verbs (suru & kuru) from the Genki textbook — plus bilingual small talk about mochi, scams, and Golden Week. New episodes every 2nd, 12th & 22nd.    Michael Allen CPAとMichelle MaliZakiと一緒に楽しく日本語の動詞活用を学ぼう！Genki教科書か...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 23 of Nihongo To English, Michelle and Michael somehow turn a Japanese lesson into a deep discussion about multiplication tables, tatami mats, biscuit songs, and the dangers of sticking your whole body out of a moving car in Genki textbook illustrations. This episode covers: ✨ Japanese math vocabulary and “kuku” multiplication tables ✨ Differences between Japanese and...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 22 of Nihongo To English , Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen CPA dive into one of the most confusing Japanese pronunciation sounds and why it’s somewhere in between. If you’ve ever wondered how to actually say ふ (fu), this is your episode. We also flip the script on our usual format with a fun reverse vocabulary quiz—English to Japanese—covering everyday words like f...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 21 of Nihongo To English , Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen talk about Japanese trains, Shinkansen names, “Thing Japan,” The Little Engine That Could, and why Genki’s “making a date” chapter may be more dramatic than expected. This episode includes: Japanese words like nozomi , hikari , kodama , and tetsudou a conversation about Shinkansen, hope traveling faster than...

Send us Fan Mail Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (GoatVsFish) talk about viral Japanese meme culture, Momotaro, Japanese folktales, and funny restaurant roleplay in Episode 20 of Nihongo To English No Show . This bilingual comedy podcast episode wanders through Michelle’s songwriting homework, her song “Nap Time by nap8sta” becoming the official song of National Napping Day, the Momotaro meme...

Send us Fan Mail 🎟️ Stationery Park tickets + info (May 16–17 • Santa Monica): More info 🛍️ More than 60 vendors! 🎖️ Each ticket comes with a Stamp Rally Bingo and everybody wins a surprise prize! If you love pens, paper, stickers, stamps, notebooks, fountain pens, and ink , this bonus episode is for you. Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (GoatVsFish) talk about Stationery Park , a whimsical sta...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 19 of Nihongo to English , Michael Allen CPA and Michelle MaliZaki talk about tobacco festivals, sister cities, heavy metal, mosh pits, ducks, and college majors before working through more Genki Japanese practice.  This episode includes: beginner Japanese practice with simple yes/no questions Genki vocabulary about school, majors, years in college, and belongings a liv...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 18 of Nihongo to English , Michael Allen and Michelle MaliZaki talk about California teeth, Hammurabi, Dragon Ball Z, fake Vegeta figures, Japanese straw hats, and vegetables before getting back into Genki Japanese practice . This episode includes: beginner Japanese practice with koko / soko / asoko learning how to describe where things are in more natural Japanese no-p...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 17 of Nihongo to English , Michael Allen and Michelle MaliZaki talk about Japanese sake, aliens, Earthlings, newspapers, baseball, and Dodgers parking prices before circling back to Genki Japanese practice . This episode includes: beginner Japanese practice with kono / sono / ano price questions and shopping-style vocabulary from Genki a fun conversation about sake , sn...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 16 of Nihongo to English , Michael Allen and Michelle MaliZaki fall into a “ki” spiral— kitte (stamp), kite (to cut / “cut and…”), and somehow kitty —which turns into a chaotic pitch for a Hello Kitty x Garfield crossover (and the question nobody asked: what if they dated?). Then we jump into Genki Lesson 6 practice: Shopping + prices vocabulary (hat, shoes, bag, wallet...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 15 of Nihongo to English , we dive into Japanese Valentine’s Day culture —from giri choco (obligation chocolate) to the panic of White Day reciprocity. Comedians Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (Goat VS Fish) also bounce from “nee / Knights who say Ni!” into a surprisingly deep (and very funny) cultural breakdown. Then it’s Genki time : we crack open Genki (pp. 66–6...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 14 starts with a very LA problem: “It doesn’t rain enough to casually say ame ga yamu .” From there, Michael Allen and Michelle MaliZaki jump into Genki-style grammar and nuance— yamu vs yameru , tomaru vs tomeru , and what changes when the “stopping” happens by itself vs when you stop something (Superman stops the Shinkansen, obviously). Then we go full language-nerd with...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Nihongo to English , hosts Michael Allen CPA and Michelle MaliZaki break down Japanese particle も (mo) from Genki I (Lesson 5) —how to use も to mean “also/too,” and how it can imply “among other things.” We also practice じゃないです (janai desu) vs ではないです (dewa nai desu) for saying “not” in Japanese, plus common beginner pitfalls (like stacking “also” a...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 12 of Nihongo to English No Show , Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen (CPA / comedic performance artist) bounce between English + 日本語 (nihongo) and dive into the Genki textbook to tackle one of the most confusing beginner topics: kore / sore / are / dore — plus the matching sets kono / sono / ano / dono and koko / soko / asoko / doko . Along the way: an audition cal...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 11 of Nihongo to English (No Show), hosts Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen tumble into Japanese shopping phrases , beginner-friendly Genki vocabulary practice , and a chaotic-but-useful roleplay that goes from the store… to the restaurant… to “wait, why is Mary going to the bathroom?” 😄 You’ll hear practice with essentials like kore / sore / dore , common shopping &...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to 2026 — and our first 初笑い (hatsu warai) , the first laugh of the New Year 🎍 Nihongo to English hits Episode 10 with Japanese New Year traditions, language mix-ups, and joyful confusion. We talk oshōgatsu , bonenkai , and shinnenkai , New Year foods, long tamago jokes, karuta vs. hanafuda, and why the Japanese New Year lasts more than one day. Along the way, we confus...

Send us Fan Mail 🎧 Episode 9 Description Is a stripe the same as a border? (No. Definitely no.) In Episode 9 of Nihongo to English , comedians Michelle MaliZaki and Michael Allen CPA tumble into classic Japanese–English confusion while debating stripes, borders, and why English sounds so confident even when it’s wrong. Along the way, they snack on zebra popcorn, wander into euphemisms, sake cups,...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Nihongo to English (No Show) , Michelle and Michael learn Japanese the way adults actually do — through real conversation, mistakes, and a little sake. We dive into Genki textbook Japanese (pages 46–48), including school years (〜年生) , age counters (〜歳) , and the confusing but essential grammar pattern 〜ようになる (“to become able to do”). Along the way, we...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 7 of Nihongo to English (No Show) , Michelle and Michael dig into one of the most surprisingly fun language differences: animal sounds in Japanese vs. English . Why does a dog say wan wan instead of woof woof ? Why do cats go nyan nyan ? And what happens when you translate sounds instead of meanings? This episode uses onomatopoeia as a gateway into how Japanese actually...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 6 of Nihongo to English (No Show) , Michelle and Michael talk about New York through a Japanese cultural lens —and stumble into a surprisingly deep conversation about boundaries, politeness, and the power of saying no . What starts as travel talk turns into a lesson on how everyday experiences shift when language and culture collide. From New York energy and sensory ove...

Send us Fan Mail In Episode 5 of Nihongo to English (No Show) , Michelle and Michael talk about Thanksgiving through a Japanese lens —and discover how food, gratitude, and cultural assumptions don’t always translate cleanly. The conversation starts with Thanksgiving basics and quickly veers into Japanese food culture , including inari sushi , leftovers, and what it actually means to share a meal....